I begin this blog where I left off on the last blog, the evening of April 25, cozy in the flat on Ordensmeisterstr. Petra made a delicious goulosh for dinner, and we simply stayed in for the evening. Gifts had been purchased for Mika, which caused quite a riot of excitement.
After Reiner and Mika went to bed, Petra, the girls, Sascha, and I stayed up to talk. Talk turned to the subject of liquor and, before you knew it, the eierliquor was out.
After Reiner and Mika went to bed, Petra, the girls, Sascha, and I stayed up to talk. Talk turned to the subject of liquor and, before you knew it, the eierliquor was out.
Eierliquor? Yes, the literal translation is "eggs liquor." I tried it the first time I came to Berlin, back in 1990. On that fateful day, we had started drinking beer in the afternoon and continued through dinner and afterwards. Petra got the brilliant idea to serve me her East German aunt's homemade eierliquor, with beer chasers. The word "drunk" does not do justice to my state that night (worse was the morning after, when I had to be introduced to Reiner's stern Aunt Dora looking like a girl who had stayed up all night drinking).
But back now to 2015. This time it was Petra who made the eierliquor from scratch. Sascha served as barman, delivering the bottle and glasses to the girls, Petra, and me in the living room. And OMG was it good! I remember it as having tasted terrible that first time, but this time it was like drinking cake batter with an alcoholic kick. Between the four of us, we polished off Petra's entire bottle! And we talked and talked. After the girls went to bed, Petra and I stayed up to listen to a CD of the Roughnecks, the band in which her cousin is the drummer. And we talked and talked some more.
The morning of the 26th saw a slow and lazy start to the day. TJ, Melli, and Oliver arrived, and Reiner and the girls gave TJ the gifts they had bought him during their shopping extravaganza the day before. Then came the hard part--saying goodbye to Sascha and Mika, who had to make the long journey back to their home in Hannover.
While Petra and Melli accompanied Sascha and Mika to catch their bus, Reiner, the girls, and I headed out on our own to meet up with more Opitsch relatives, this time Onkel Werner. We traveled by u-bahn to Unter den Linden, getting a little lost in the process but eventually arriving in front of the Russian embassy where Onkel Werner picked us up.
The Russian Embassy
Onkel Werner is the best! He speaks in a vibrant combination of German-English-Spanish-French, sometimes using words from each in the same sentence. He's got more energy than any man nearly 80 should have. He asked if we would like to go to Schloss Charlottenburg, and I, for one, was more than happy to agree.
Charlottenburg is a beautiful example of the early days of the Enlightenment come to life. Built under the direction of Queen Sophie-Charlotte as a summer home in the late 1690's, it stood outside the city gates of Berlin at the time. Throughout the tour of this beautiful palace, our audio guide reminded us of the love of Sopie-Charlotte and her husband, King Frederick I of Prussia (they were the first to call themselves "king" and "queen" of Prussia; before that, they had been called "Elector" and "Electress") for all things cultural. In fact, portraits throughout the palace contain the likenesses of various philsophers, scientists, and artists.
Sophie-Charlotte also had a passion for the chinoiserie style that swept through Europe at the time. One room, in fact, had a massive--and I mean massive--display of Eastern porcelains and such. It all must have been the latest in chic, exotic culture at the time.
While the first floor was dedicated to Sophie-Charlotte and Frederick, the second floor focused on the mid-19th century life of their desendant Frederick-William IV and his Queen Elizabeth. Here, where much of the original structure had been damaged in WWII, a lot of the rooms are more like museum displays. The discussion of the revolutions of 1848 and Frederick-William's response to them served to underscore just what a difficult time European monarchies had as a passion for democracy swept across the Western world. While it would take many more decades to complete, those stirrings in 1848 proved to be the beginning of a new way of political thinking in Europe.
The following are the few photos that Heidi surreptitiously took during the tour. Surreptitiously taken, because permission to take photos in the palace cost an additional three Euro. While I can see restricting things like flash photography, the idea of charging visitors to take personal snapshots seems a bit of a money grab. However, imaging how much it must cost to keep up the beautiful palace and grounds, I'm guessing every Euro counts.
OK., so this photo was taken by me, and
I am not as sly as Heidi. But what a great
bust of an angry baby!
Once we had seen the sights of Schloss Charlottenburg, we hopped back in the car for a ride to Onkel Werner and Tante Cissy's apartment. All along the way, Onkel Werner kept up a steady stream of tour guide information, pointing out this and that, all in his multi-cultural patois.
Tante Cissy, to me, looked the same as she has ever looked, as though she has not aged at all in the decades since I saw her last. She had a very elegant tea set up for us, complete with the most amazing cocont-pineapple cake, fresh whipped cream, coffee, tea, and chocolate milk. Onkel Werner and Reiner looked over Werner's stamp collection, while I photographed pages of family history information that Werner had put into a little book.
Once tea was finished, then out came the alcohol. Whiskey, of course, for Maddie, beer for the rest of us. It wasn't long before their son, Manfred, arrived, along with his girlfriend, Kristine. Piled into two cars, we drove a short way to their favorite restaurant for dinner--Manfred knew everybody there!
From left to right: Manfred, Reiner, Maddie, Heidi,
me, Werner, Cissy, Katarina (the youngest
daughter of Kristine), and Kristine
After dinner, Reiner saw his most cherished wish fulfilled--we went to Klo, the toilette-and-horror themed bar in the northern part of Berlin. This racuous place shoots you with water when you enter, where you are greeted by a mannequin that flashes you with quite a substantial piece of "wood." Some bar stools come in the shape of toilets, the actual toilets make farting noises, and drinks are served in things like test tubes, bedpans, and urinals. A good time was, of course, had by all.
It was late by the time we got home, so this blog simply had to wait. Now, it's morning and Melli has arrived. Reiner is on his way to get breakfast foods, and then its off to the German History Museum. I must finish this up and publish as my most devoted reader, Melli, sits near me, waiting impatiently.
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